Menlo Park will be the site of a new patent office, albeit a temporary one.

Rebecca Blank, U.S. deputy secretary of commerce, announced at the March 6 Silicon Valley Leadership Group Annual Summit that her administration had selected a temporary Silicon Valley site for a patent office.

The office will be located at the United States Geological Survey building in Menlo Park, according to a United States Patent and Trademark Office official. Ms. Blank said the administration hopes to find a permanent office in the area by late next year.

She referred to innovation as the driver of the "ecosystem in Silicon Valley," saying that half the companies in Silicon Valley added new jobs last year. "The administration is working to make sure that you can keep turning innovation into good jobs."

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in November hired Michelle Lee to be its Silicon Valley office director. Ms. Lee was formerly deputy general counsel at Google.

Read Ms. Blank's speech here.

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